# civic life (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 3 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover civic life. Page: Feed: --- ## [Tony — Movie Review](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/22/tony-movie-review/) _2026-08-22 · Nigel · Porirua News_ On now at the Lighthouse Cinema in Pauatahanui is Tony which offers an engaging and surprisingly intimate look at the young Anthony Bourdain, long before he became \[...\] ## [Western Suburbs’ George Green earns New Zealand selection](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/22/western-suburbs-george-green-earns-new-zealand-selection/) _2026-08-22 · Tim Wilson · Porirua News_ Western Suburbs footballer George Green has been selected to represent New Zealand at next month’s OFC U-19 Men’s Championship in Samoa. Green is the sole \[...\] ## [Porirua public meeting to discuss future of health system](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/21/porirua-public-meeting-to-discuss-future-of-health-system/) _2026-08-21 · Tim Wilson · Porirua News_ Porirua residents are being invited to a free public meeting at Pātaka on Monday to discuss the state of New Zealand’s public health system and \[...\] ## [Porirua man charged after alleged Tawa rail copper theft](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/20/porirua-man-charged-after-alleged-tawa-rail-copper-theft/) _2026-08-20 · Tim Wilson · Porirua News_ A 54-year-old man has been arrested after allegedly attempting to steal copper cable from the rail corridor at Takapu Road Station in Tawa, damaging the \[...\] ## [Porirua students invited to Victoria University Open Day](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/19/porirua-students-welcomed-to-victoria-university-open-day/) _2026-08-19 · Nigel · Porirua News_ Porirua students considering university study are being invited to explore Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington at its Open Day on Friday 21 August. \[...\] ## [Five candidates confirmed for Onepoto Ward by-election](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/18/five-candidates-confirmed-for-onepoto-ward-by-election/) _2026-08-18 · Tim Wilson · Porirua News_ Five candidates will contest the upcoming Onepoto General Ward by-election for a seat on Porirua City Council. Nominations closed at midday on Thursday, with Joanne \[...\] ## [Porirua Pāua Poacher placed on home detention](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/17/porirua-paua-poacher-placed-on-home-detention/) _2026-08-17 · admin · Porirua News_ A fisher poached 1,869 pāua near Titahi Bay intended for sale. He also illegally used scuba gear to harvest the shellfish. The man has been \[...\] ## [Tributes flow for former Porirua city councillor Tracy Johnson](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/16/tributes-flow-for-former-porirua-city-councillor-tracy-johnson/) _2026-08-16 · Tim Wilson · Porirua News_ Former Porirua City Councillor Tracy Johnson has died peacefully, surrounded by her whānau, prompting tributes to a woman who made a significant contribution to the \[...\] ## [Election debates set for new Kenepuru and Kapiti Electorates](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/16/election-debates-set-for-new-kenepuru-and-kapiti-electorate/) _2026-08-15 · Nigel · Porirua News_ Porirua voters are split into two electorates, Kāpiti and Kenepuru for the general election in November and Sam Somers, frontman for ‘It’s in the Ballot’ \[...\] ## [Lane closures and stop-go traffic planned across Porirua](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/14/lane-closures-and-stop-go-traffic-planned-across-porirua/) _2026-08-14 · Tim Wilson · Porirua News_ Porirua motorists can expect lane closures and stop-go traffic management across SH1, SH58 and SH59 next week. On Mana Esplanade, a southbound lane closure will \[...\] ## [Home Internet From Space (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/lfXr7IOwxKNg) _2026-08-14 · **Sponsored**_ Residential satellite internet that brings connectivity to homes beyond conventional networks ## [Tawa Ducks win Shield final over Poneke](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/13/tawa-ducks-win-shield-final-over-poneke/) _2026-08-13 · admin · Porirua News_ The Tawa Rugby Football Club Under-85kg Ducks won the 2026 Paul Potiki Memorial Shield final, defeating the Pōneke Football Club 19–12 at Kilbirnie Park to \[...\] ## [Porirua Library – kids’ cards](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/13/porirua-library-kids-cards/) _2026-08-12 · Tim Wilson · Porirua News_ Porirua Tamariki can have their own Junior library membership card. This Children’s Library card can access books, puzzles, DVD’s, eBooks, eAudiobooks, streamed eMovies, plus Young \[...\] ## [Cold houses and empty cupboards are a mental health issue, says Porirua provider](https://www.poriruanews.co.nz/2026/08/13/cold-houses-and-empty-cupboards-are-a-mental-health-issue-says-porirua-provider/) _2026-08-12 · Nigel · Porirua News_ Te Waka Whaiora says new child poverty figures showing 170,000 children in hardship should be read as a mental health warning, not just an income \[...\] ## [4 Types of Civic Engagement: Are We Participating in Society or Just Watching?](https://www.theemotionmachine.com/4-types-of-civic-engagement-are-we-participating-in-society-or-just-watching/) _2026-08-11 · Steven Handel · The Emotion Machine_ Civic life depends on more than paying attention. The way we participate – or don’t – shapes who actually has influence. Pericles once told his fellow Athenians that a man who stays out of politics isn’t simply minding his own business, but is failing in his duty to the community. Civic disengagement wasn’t seen as (more...) The post 4 Types of Civic Engagement: Are We Participating in Society or… ## [Flood the Zone: How Misinformation Makes Truth Feel Impossible](https://www.theemotionmachine.com/flood-the-zone-how-misinformation-makes-truth-feel-impossible/) _2026-08-04 · Steven Handel · The Emotion Machine_ Flooding the zone isn’t about making you believe one lie. It is about overwhelming the information environment until truth itself feels impossible. The most effective propaganda does not always tell you what to believe. Sometimes it leaves you unsure whether belief is possible at all. A few years ago, I wrote about information pollution and (more...) The post Flood the Zone: How Misinformation… ## [Hasslers: How Difficult People Drain Time From Your Life](https://www.theemotionmachine.com/hasslers-how-difficult-people-drain-time-from-your-life/) _2026-07-29 · Steven Handel · The Emotion Machine_ Difficult people don’t just drain your patience – they may also affect your health. New research on “hasslers” shows how persistent negative social strain can wear us down over time. The people around us aren’t just background characters in the movie of our lives. They are an integral part of the psychological and biological environment (more...) The post Hasslers: How Difficult People Drain Time… ## [Dating Apps Are Confidence Black Holes: The Costs of Swipe-Based Romance](https://www.theemotionmachine.com/dating-apps-are-confidence-black-holes-the-costs-of-swipe-based-romance/) _2026-07-21 · Steven Handel · The Emotion Machine_ As real life gives us fewer places to meet, dating apps fill the gap – then quietly reshape how we experience attraction, rejection, and ourselves. The real win isn’t mastering the swipe; it’s finding someone worth logging off for. When did meeting new people become so difficult and weird? Where do people even go anymore (more...) The post Dating Apps Are Confidence Black Holes: The Costs of… ## [Glued to the Screen: Scrolling Hypnosis and the Allure of Easy Dopamine](https://www.theemotionmachine.com/glued-to-the-screen-scrolling-hypnosis-and-the-allure-of-easy-dopamine/) _2026-07-16 · Steven Handel · The Emotion Machine_ Social media can pull us into automatic scrolling loops built on novelty, reward, and instant stimulation. Learn how to interrupt the habit and use social media more consciously. Social media can produce a trance-like state where we are no longer fully aware of what we’re doing. We’re just mindlessly scrolling, liking, and sharing. Many social (more...) The post Glued to the Screen: Scrolling… ## [To Declare or To Delay: Debating Independence, June–July 1776](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/to-declare-or-to-delay-debating-independence) _2026-07-04 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ The Declaration became a powerful philosophical treatise grounded in natural rights ideals, but the congressional debate preceding it focused on practical concerns rather than political theory. ## [The Quiet Collapse of Ohio’s Student Interactions with Peace Officers Mandate](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/the-quiet-collapse-of-ohios-student) _2026-05-03 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ A mandate to teach students about interactions with police threatened to cross the line between civics instruction and legal advice. ## [Find it on Amazon (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/NmrBlpJMz77e) _2026-05-03 · **Sponsored**_ Open the Amazon product listing to see details and availability ## [Santa Claus and Social Justice: A Victorian Christmas Story](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/santa-claus-and-social-justice-a) _2025-12-25 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ ". . . \[H\]e who has no love in his own heart can discern no love in anything that comes into his hands. What does Christmas mean to such a one? . . It does him no good; it does him harm, every time." ## [Popular Culture and the 1980s Cold War: A Childhood Memoir](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/popular-culture-and-the-1980s-cold) _2025-12-25 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ Much of what I knew about the Cold War growing up did not come from textbooks or classrooms, but from popular culture that quietly taught my generation how to see the world in stark moral terms. ## [Rediscovering Barry Beyer and the Missing Dispositions in Civic Online Reasoning](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/rediscovering-barry-beyer-and-the) _2025-12-15 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ Before students can apply strategies such as lateral reading, source checking, or claim verification, they must be disposed to do so. Skills do not compel their own use. ## [Teaching the Market: A Brief History of Economic Education in America](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/teaching-the-market-a-brief-history) _2025-11-28 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ Today’s economic education standards sit atop decades of curricular evolution shaped by social and political currents of the day. ## [Rethinking The First Thanksgiving: 1912 not 1621](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/rethinking-the-first-thanksgiving) _2025-11-28 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ J.L.G. Ferris's painting, The First Thanksgiving 1621, is a primary source—not about the Pilgrims, but about American public memory in the early 20th century. ## [Ken Burns’ The American Revolution: A Historian’s Long View](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/ken-burns-the-american-revolution) _2025-11-23 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ Burns presents the Revolution not as a single unified story, but as a series of interwoven narratives experienced differently by different groups. ## [Lessons from the Dungeon of Doom: How the Enlightenment Freed Us from the Rack](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/lessons-from-the-dungeon-of-doom) _2025-10-25 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ The Enlightenment didn’t just change how people were punished—it reshaped how we think about human dignity. It’s easy to take that for granted until you see what came before it, encased in rusted iron ## [History Connected: A Relaunch](https://historyconnected.substack.com/p/history-connected-a-relaunch) _2025-10-21 · Matt Doran · History Connected_ Whether you are a teacher, curriculum leader, museum educator, or simply a history enthusiast, I welcome you to this conversation on why historical understanding matters for our shared civic life.